


Enlightenment

by seadeepy



Series: Schitt's Creek Prompt Fills [2]
Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode: s03e12 Friends & Family, Introspection, M/M, POV Patrick Brewer, Patrick Brewer loves David Rose, Patrick Brewer's Love Language is Acts of Service, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fill, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, write the fanfic you want to see in the world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:09:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25899463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seadeepy/pseuds/seadeepy
Summary: Prompt: Someone tries to be a handyman.OR: A few quiet moments of contemplation in the Apothecary before its soft opening.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Series: Schitt's Creek Prompt Fills [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1903411
Comments: 27
Kudos: 97





	Enlightenment

**Author's Note:**

> My 2nd fic ever! And it's [checks notes] absolutely nothing like the first one in style or subject matter. Except that it's D/P, cause of course it is. I kept thinking about this scene when discussing the prompt, and then I figured -- pining!Patrick from their pre-relationship days is one of my favorite kinds of fics to read, so why not take a stab at it myself?
> 
> Thanks to FrizzleNox and Streetlamp_Sunset for the beta!

Outside Rose Apothecary, darkness is falling. The pavement of the intersection is painted in dusky blue hues, while the floor-to-ceiling windows capture elusive images of the interior and reflect them back to its single occupant. It's dim enough now that Patrick would turn on the lights, except, well. That's why he's here.

Patrick Brewer is nothing if not a careful planner, however, so he heads into the back to retrieve the small camping lantern he packed for this eventuality. He was actually surprised to find it among his hiking gear, assuming he'd left it behind with all the other non-essentials when he fled his previous life. All he'd arrived in Schitt's Creek with was a single duffel bag full of blue button-ups, his hiking backpack, and his guitar case. All that he's building for himself now, he found here.

Patrick returns to the main room and places the lantern on the polished wood surface of the register, twisting the little black knob. With a click, brilliant white light springs outward to illuminate a spaghetti-like jumble of wires and tools that is all Patrick has to show for his several hours of work. He looks down at the chaos for a moment, then huffs a laugh. If giving two weeks' notice at Ray's and investing his time and money into a small start-up venture hadn't given him enough clues, this would seal the deal: he has a ridiculously enormous crush on David Rose.

As Patrick types in a new string of words into the YouTube search bar and scrolls through the results, he lines up the facts in his head. It's not unlike a mental spreadsheet, and far from the first time he's done this in the last few weeks. He even went hiking for hours at a time, up to Rattlesnake Point where the world unfurled beneath him in mottled green patchwork. He sat there, trying to make fifteen years of Rachel and other girls make sense with the way his stomach flips when David laughs, the way he can't take his eyes off David's glittering silver rings and the shapes his hands make in the air.

But by now, a few days before the Apothecary's soft opening, the exercise has a threadbare familiarity to it. Patrick Brewer is gay. He is a gay man, and he has a crush on David. He's tried to give off hints, teasing David until his business partner dissolves into outraged humming and flailing. When David had delivered his miniature monologue on Patrick's clean mouth a few days ago, he had almost hoped, for a second. But David is either incredibly oblivious, or not interested and trying to let him down easy, or—

Patrick skips backward ten seconds in the YouTube video, realizing he's lost track of which step he's on.

"Focus, Brewer," he mutters to himself. He might still be too nervous to ask David out, but he sure doesn't want to get electrocuted before he can get up the courage.

So since he hasn't said anything outright to David, here he is instead, hunched over the counter in the dark, trying to figure out whether or not he needs to pigtail the line wire before connecting it to the switch. And it's yet another sign of how far gone he is that he thinks David's inattention to detail is _cute_. God help him, he's looking forward to the moment when David realizes he forgot to call the electrician, again, and Patrick will be able to turn oh-so-casually and flip the light switch, dazzling David with his competency and rudimentary handyman skills.

Yep, business licenses and moonlighting as an amateur electrician. That's how Patrick's planning to get the guy. It seems silly, when he thinks about it. Everything he has to offer, everything he is — grant money and Microsoft Excel and mid-range denim — seems so boring in comparison to David's bold fashion and dramatic turns of phrase, David's beauty and passion and creative vision. But no, he has to keep reminding himself: he complements David, a steady presence to catch David's flighty emotions and, well... ground them. Patrick hooks the end of one of the wires around its corresponding screw and twists it, smiling despite himself.

Patrick's phone vibrates, and he's a little ashamed of how fast he drops the screwdriver when he sees David's name on the screen.

 **Stevie took Alexis' side in the great concealer debate, so I'm taking her off the guest list,** says the text. **How is YOUR night going?**

 **I was just thinking of you,** Patrick could write. But that's a bit too close to the truth. And honestly, when isn't he thinking about David?

Instead, he taps out, **Just checking on a few things at the store.**

 **Is something wrong?** comes David's reply, and before Patrick can begin composing a response, a second text follows. **It's something bad, isn't it? Oh my god, we're going to have to delay the opening.**

Patrick shakes his head, wishing he could settle David's anxiety in person, worrying anything sarcastic will be misinterpreted and send him spiraling. He looks out across the main room of the Apothecary, where carefully curated products are precisely placed to "improve aesthetic flow" and "enhance brand experience." He usually sees David in every inch of it, from the bottles of body milk in military rows to the sand-and-stone color palette David talked for a full thirty minutes about one afternoon.

Tonight, brought into contrast by the harsh light of the camping lantern, Patrick sees himself here too. All the hours spent unpacking boxes and bickering with David over prices and filing paperwork while Mariah Carey blasts almost too loud to think. It is something they've created together, and their fingerprints overlap and mingle into something truly special. He just has to get these stupid lights wired.

 **Don't worry, David,** Patrick writes back. **It's going to be perfect.**


End file.
